Meet The Family
by RyanTyler2294
Summary: Masamune meets Motochika's family for the hoilday. What could possibly go wrong? Christmas fic
1. Chapter 1

Keiji and his family were excited to finally see Chosokabe again. Though they weren't directly related, growing up, he was around the family so much that they saw him as a brother. It had been a few years since their last meeting. Chosokabe had gotten a small house on the shore line. He and Mori shared it along with Chosokabe's significant other.

They were actually coming over to meet said partner. They had been hearing about this girl for almost three years, and that was two years after they started dating. Every time they were going to meet her she had ducked out by saying she had something to do.

Now they stood in the house as Toshi and Chosokabe brought in the last few things from the car.

"It's good to see you again," Keiji beamed. "Where is Mori?"

"He went out to the store but he should be back soon."

"Chika-chan," a male voice came from around the corner, "I thought I heard..." a man around Chosokabe's age stared at them as he enter the kitchen area. He wore only a loose fitting pair of pajama pants, his brown, shoulder length hair, was mused as if he had just woke up. He also had an eye patch over his right eye.

He turned around as if he was going to leave.

"Wait," the pirate grabbed the other man's elbow and dragged him back, "This is Date Masamune, my boyfriend of almost six years."

No one in the family had really expected Motochika to be gay. If anything he had been an overzealous skirt chaser the last time they saw him. That's why when he said he said he found someone the assumed it was a girl. Not to say that they were homophobic. They just never saw this coming

Matsu was the first one to snap out of her trance and digest the new information. "It's nice to meet you," Matsu put out her hand.

Masamune broke free of his boyfriends grip and turned back down the hall without saying a word.

"I'm sorry," Motochika apologized, "He's not much of a morning person. Just give me a second." He took off down the hall.

"That was rude," Matsu mumbled under her breath.

"He didn't seem fully awake dear." Toshi said. "Maybe he just..." they all paused hearing the conversation down the hall.

"You don't think you could have told me they were coming?" Masamune asked voice tight.

"I'm sorry, but every time I invite them over you suddenly find a reason to leave," Chosokabe said.

"Don't try to make me sound like the bad guy. Whenever I mention Kojuro you change the subject."

"I haven't seen them in years. You put up with Mori, this won't be any different."

"Fine, but you have to meet Kojuro now; no if ands or buts."

"So, you'll talk with them."

"Let me change first," they hear Masamune move further into the house.

Chosokabe came back, "Sorry about that. He'll be back in a second," he clapped his hands together, "So, what do you want for breakfast? I could cook something up real quick."

"That would be nice," Keiji agreed knowing better than to pass up Chosokabe's cooking.

"I'm really sorry about Masamune. I caught him by surprise with your visit, and on top of that he isn't much of a morning person," he put some coffee on as he started to crack eggs for the omelets. "Once he's awake he'll be a lot more pleasant."

As if on cue, Masamune appeared in the doorway, fully clothed as he moved to the coffee maker. He skillfully worked on making the first cup before passing it to Chosokabe. He then poured three more cups putting them down on the table alone with cream and sugar. Before sitting with them he grabbed a cup of milk for himself.

"I didn't get your names earlier."

"I'm Keiji and this is my sister Matsu and her husband Toshi. And this little guy is Yumekichi," Keiji pointed to the little monkey on his shoulder.

"Really," he turned to Chosokabe, "I thought you said no pets in the house."

"He's not going to be here that long," the pirate reasoned.

"But we could get something small, like a lizard or a ferret."

"We'll talk about it later."

Masamune huffed, pouting a bit, "He keeps saying we can't get a pet, but I doubt that something small could be much trouble."

"You'd be surprised," Keiji said, "I can't tell you how many times this little guy has caused a ruckus in the house."

Mori came home by the time they were eating. Chosokabe saved a plate for him. Masamune stayed all but silent during the conversation that was held over the morning meal. It wasn't long until the dragon excused himself saying he had something he needed to go do.

"He seems a bit anti-social." Matsu said. It was the older sister in her to automatically disapprove of the new boyfriend.

"He's still warming up to you is all." Motochika gave a tight grin.

"He's always like this." Mori rolled his eyes. "The only person he gets along with is you."

"No, it might be because I just sprung this on him. I never told him that you were coming, because I didn't want him finding an excuse to leave."

"And yet he found one anyway." Mori sighed. "What are the odds that Kojuro is suddenly going to need him to come back to the ranch for a bit, like he always does?"

"He won't. We made a deal. He'll stay if I have a sit down with Kojuro in the near future."

"Who's Kojuro?" Keiji asked.

"He is literally the evilest being I have ever met."

"I feel like that's a bit of an exaggeration." Toshi smiled hoping that he was joking.

"I'm not lying. He's Masamune's guardian. The man practically raised him. Because of the circumstances of how he ended up taking care of Date to begin with, he's very protective of him. He heard we were dating and immediately wanted to kill me. If he knew we were living together all hell would break loose."

"Maybe it's a sign." Mori mumbled but was ignored.

As the day went on Masamune reappeared now and again. Chosokabe finally convinced him to sit down and talk with everyone. The younger man tried saying that he was tired, but after a bit of pouting on Chosokabe's part, he found himself on the couch with everyone. Again he still didn't do much talking. He curled up against his partner's side dozing. It wasn't long until he actually fell asleep where he was.

"Guess he wasn't lying." Mori said. "Or he's faking it because he knows it's his turn to make dinner."

"We can just order something." Chosokabe decided.

Mori rolled his eyes pulling out the menus for them to decide what they wanted.

~.~.~.~.~

The night was starting to come to a close, and everyone retired to their respected rooms. Two guest rooms had been set up, one for Matsu and Toshi, the other for Keiji.

Keiji was taking the time to brush his teeth when he saw Mori walking by. He took the opportunity to try to talk with the other man. Anyone who knew him long enough knew that Mori had been acting weird today.

"Mori, are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine," he glared, "What would make you think otherwise?"

"Well...you're a bit bitchy-er than normal."

"I've just been having a rough year." Mori said, side stepping as if he was trying to escape the oncoming conversation.

"Chosokabe told me," Keiji nodded understandingly. Mori had fell on to hard times and needed somewhere to stay until he could get back on his feet. Chosokabe was just going to pay to put Mori up in his own apartment, but Masamune had suggested on just letting him stay with them for a while. However, Mori didn't like Masamune even though he tried to extend his kindness, or at least pretend to like Mori. He was Chosokabe's best friend, and no good would come of fighting with him.

"I don't think that's it though," Keiji said. "I know you and Masamune don't get along to well and you have your reasons for that..."

"Get to the point," Mori snapped.

"You like Chosokabe and can't stand Masamune because..."

"He's a little slut," Mori hissed out before Keiji could finish his thought, "If you heard the things I heard about him trust me, you wouldn't like him either. All he ever does is sulk and work at making sure Chosokabe takes care of him and..."

"Did you try telling Chosokabe this?" Keiji had a feeling none of it was true. Chosokabe had mentioned once or twice that the people in the town of Oshu didn't care much for Masamune. The dragon had actually left to escape the slander that he was onslaught with from a day to day basis. It was the only reason he had left his home town.

"For the most part, yes, but he says that it's not true, and that I'm over reacting. Trust me though, before he came here he was known as the biggest whore in all of Oshu."

"I doubt that..."

"You don't live in the same house as those two. The walls are paper thin and you can hear everything that they do. Everything!"

Keiji didn't know what to say to that. It must be hard to hear someone that you love with someone else. On top of that have to live with them.

Mori was already gone by the time he could think of anything to stay. The vagabond decided to just head for bed at this point. Walking past Chosokabe and Masamune's shared room he paused hearing their conversation.

"You couldn't have tried to be any more anti-social?" Chosokabe's voice.

"I'm sorry if I didn't seem too happy to see them. I never agreed with to this in the first place," Masamune restored.

"You left for hours, and then faked sleep the rest of the time."

Ahh, so he wasn't really asleep that time.

Masamune snorted, "We already went through what happened. I'll try to be more agreeable tomorrow but I'm not making any promises."

He heard Chosokabe let out a sigh, "I know something that will cheer you up."

"Really?"

"Yes, I called Kojuro while you were hiding away. He's going to be over the day after tomorrow."

"You actually talked with him?"

"Yup!"

"You have balls, I'll give you that much."

He heard Chosokabe laugh, "Knowing him he'll bring Yukimura and try to get you to go back to the ranch."

"I'm not leaving," Masamune hummed. "We both know that."

There was the sound of a kiss being shared and then the unmistakable sound of sheets rustling.

"No," he heard Masamune's voice again, "Not while your family is here."

"Masamune..."

"No, goodnight." There was the sound of one last kiss and the quiet.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I hope you guys don't mind that I invited Masamune's dad over. I'm in hot water, and it was the way to save my ass." Chosokabe apologized the next morning.

"It's okay," Matsu said, "I think it would be good for both the families to meet each other."

"Thanks," Chosokabe sighed.

Mori walked into the kitchen catching the tail end of the conversation, but even so he knew, "Let me guess, Princess Masamune is at it again."

"Don't talk about him that way." Chosokabe sighed yet again. He hated it whenever his friend and his boyfriend spoke poorly of each other.

"I'm just saying." Mori sat down pulling out a cereal box to start his breakfast. "When is he not holding his breath until he gets his way?"

"That sounds familiar," Masamune said rounding the corner; he also came in at the tail end of a conversation.

"Shut up," Mori hissed.

Masamune just rolled his eye grabbing the milk from the fridge. "I'm going to head out to the store real quick. Do you guys want anything?" He addressed everyone in the room.

"I though Mori went to the store yesterday." Chosokabe crossed his arms. He had a feeling that Masamune would try to escape again.

"Yes, but whatever he got he got for himself because there is almost nothing in here except for breakfast food."

Low and behold he was right. The fridge was basically empty.

"Mori," Chosokabe sighed and the other man just shrugged.

"I'll get food and come back and make lunch." Masamune decided, slipping on his shoes. Chosokabe looked as if he was about to protest but the dragon started to speak again, "It won't take me that long to go to the store and it will only be a little longer for me to make that dish you like so much."

Chosokabe still gave him a skeptic look.

"By the latest I'll be done by twelve and more than half the time I'll be in the house. On top of that, what I'm going to take doesn't involve me needing to watch over the whole time."

"Are you planning on making hot pot?" Mori's eyes widen. Sure he didn't like the guy but he knew Masamune could make some of the best hot pot around.

"Yes, I do."

"Fine," Chosokabe gave. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather that I go to the store? You always talk about how much you hate it there."

"I'm sure, every time I send you, you get the wrong stuff." He gave him a quick peck on the mouth, "I'll be back in like, twenty thirty minutes. With that he was out the door.

"What are the odds that it's going to take an hour for him to get back, or longer?" Mori smirked.

"If you knew that then why did you..." Chosokabe shook his head. "Forget it," He turned back to his family. "Do you want to check out the beach, it's a little past the yard."

"What if Masamune comes back before we get in?" Toshi looked worried. The last thing any of them wanted was to be the cause of the couples' fight."

"When I say a little past the yard I mean that the beach is our yard. We don't have to go far. After lunch I can show you the boat I've been working on."

"What boat?" Keiji looked confused.

"Exactly, Masamune got it for me on my birthday." He boasted.

"Yes there is nothing better to celebrate the day you were born then a broken boat." Mori rolled his eyes. "Are we going outside or what?"

"You guys have this view every day?" Matsu asked in awe. They were sitting on the patio looking out at the ocean.

"Yeah, at first I thought we could get something with a yard and he wanted something with a water view. We settled on this."

They lapsed into silence enjoying the view. Ten minutes later they heard the kitchen door open and rustling in the kitchen. It wasn't long until Masamune joined them outside taking a seat next to Chosokabe.

Matsu was the first to greet him hoping to get a better response then the last time. He gave her a curt smile as he leaned against the back of his chair.

"So, Masamune, what do you do for a living. I know that Chosokabe works at the boat repair shop but he never told us what you do."

"I'm a karate instructor."

"That sounds interesting. I wouldn't peg you as the type to work with kids."

"I don't. I work with adults trying to become certified black belts."

Toshi's eyes widened, "In order for you to do that wouldn't you have to be one yourself."

"I am. I had to go through the whole proses of registering my hands as weapons and everything."

The family didn't know how to react to this.

"Is that hot pot going to be done soon?" Keiji asked, switching the subject.

"It'll be done in about five minutes or so. I hope you don't mind I set it up in the traditional fashion."

"What do you mean by traditional?"

"The pot gets sectioned off so that each person has their own compartment, and you chose what meat you want to cook in it. The temperature is high enough so that with the cuts of meat I got it should take a minute or two to cook. Besides that, ingredients are left out for everyone to make their own dipping sauce."

"Isn't that a Chinese tradition?" Matsu asked.

"Yeah."

"I thought you were Japanese."

"I am. My caretaker wasn't. He taught me how to do this."

"Maybe we should have waited to do this tomorrow," Chosokabe said, "I'm sure seeing this would have made Kojuro proud."

"Nah, as far as he's concerned I still don't know how to make a bowl of cereal for myself, much less cook. He still thinks of me as a child. I would break his heart if he found out that I could cook." He shook his head at the thought. "Let's go eat.

Lunch went smoothly.

"This is amazing," Keiji gushed.

"Thanks," Masamune said ideally more focused on his own meal. He, however, did take the time to smack Mori's chopsticks away from Chosokabe's spot of the pot while giving him the death glare.

"Sorry," Mori shrugged.

Matsu cleared her throat when she saw that the two were going to go for blood.

"Do you mind me asking how the two of you met?" She motioned between Masamune and Chosokabe.

"Ah, that story," Motochika hummed. "Masamune's dad owns this ranch in Oshu. It's a tourist spot but it doesn't get busy until the summer."

"Don't remind me." Masamune shuddered thinking back to all the families and their whining children, and nagging mother, and complaining fathers. "I hated having to work there."

"Anyways," the pirate continued, "Mori and I heard about it and though it would be cool to go in the spring instead of with the rest of the crowd. Masamune was working there with Kojuro at the time, and that's how we met."

Matsu rolled her eyes. "The real story, with all the who, what when and where."

Masamune decided to continue before his boyfriend could make a smart remark. "Because they were the only one's there, I was assigned to give them the tour and everything they needed."

"Let me finish. You're just going to make it sound like I annoyed you until you said yes to the first date."

"That's pretty much what happened," Masamune deadpanned.

"It is not," the pirate pouted. "Anyway, I invited him to hang out with us whenever he was free from his daily chores that he had to do in order to keep the Inn looking good. That's how we started hanging out. Before I left I gave him my number and address in case he was ever in town, and he called."

"Love at first sight," Keiji mused.

"Pretty much," Chosokabe grinned, pulling Masamune close, earning a glare from the other man.

Matsu shook her head but smiled, "So, what are we doing the rest of the day?"

"I mentioned taking you guys on my boat earlier. It runs like a dream."

"I though Mori said Masamune got you a broken boat?" Toshi asked wearily.

"For my birthday, yeah, but we worked on it together. Trust me if I thought there was something wrong with it, I wouldn't take you aboard."

"Speaking up boats," Masamune interrupted, "I saw something in the store that I thought you might like."

"Oh, what is it?"

"It's in the bag on the counter."

Motochika all but leaped up from his spot, "I was wondering why this bag was still here." Normally Masamune puts everything away, even if someone else left it out. "You spoil me you know that," Chosokabe said as he pulled out the content of the bag. It was a worn looking pirate hat.

"I know," the dragon gave him a quick peck on the forehead when he sat back down, "I saw it and knew you would want it ack..."

Chosokabe pulled him into a bear hug. "I love you," He mumbled into the younger man's hair.

"I love you too," Masamune said in a much lower voice than his partner. He was blushing a bit now that everyone at the table was watching them.

When they were done eating, they all changed into something more comfortable for the trip. Motochika recommended shorts and t-shirt.

"This is so cool!" Keiji beamed standing on the edge of the deck. They were only going about five miles per an hour, but it was enough to give quiet a breeze.

A look passed between Masamune and Chosokabe. Masamune was wearing a pair of kaki cargo shorts and a long blue shirt that opened in the front and had no sleeves. The pirate was having trouble keeping his eyes focused on the water with all that skin being presented to him. Once they were a good distance out he stopped the boat. Motochika sent his partner the best pirate like grin he could as he adjusted his new hat.

"Do you guys go on outing like this often?" Toshi asked.

"Only recently, it took us forever to get it working."

"Us?"

"Masamune helped me with the repairs," he said ideally dropping the anchor. He was still a bit more focused on Masamune's bare chest though he was trying to play it off. The last thing one want to do in front of your family, is openly ogle there boyfriend, who they are meeting for the first time.

Speaking if said boyfriend, he was currently perched on the railing of the boat and appeared to actually be having a conversation with Matsu. Motochika smiled at this, he knew that he would warm up to them if he gave them a chance.

"It's going to be weird to celebrate a Christmas when it's this warm outside," Keiji noted. In the area that Chosokabe and Masamune had decided to settle down in, the temperature hardly varied from what others would consider spring like weather.

"It takes a bit of time to get used to," Chosokabe admitted, "Sometimes we go to my home town instead of staying here so we can experience the seasons once in a while."

"If you wanted a change in temperature why don't you just move?" Mori asked discontentedly.

"It's nice here."

"Right," Mori rolled his eye mumbling under his breath, something along the lines of a spoiled brat. Chosokabe either didn't hear it or pretended not to.

They made it back home before dark and decided to order out once again for dinner.

"You're not nervous about tomorrow?" Masamune asked as they started to clean up from eating.

"Of course not," Motochika smiled. "He thought I was okay when I first met him, maybe he'll keep that opinion." He was talking about Kojuro who was supposed to be coming over to also spend the holiday with them. He was silently cursing himself for having the idea to invite him in the first place.

"I doubt it, but you can always hope."

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be supporting me in this?"

"I am; if he lunges I will hold him off for as long as I can, but I can't make any promises after that."

"Seriously?" Motochika paled.

"I'm joking," Masamune gave him a quick peck on the cheek, more comfortable with showing affection now that the others had gone to bed.

The pirate grinned wrapping his arms around the smaller man waist, "You would really fight Kojuro for me."

"I don't have to. All I have to do is tell him not to attack you when he first gets here and he won't. Besides, it's like you said before, he liked you when he thought you were just visiting, he's only going to be a little harder on judging you now that he knows we're dating."

"Really?" Motochika let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on, we have to finish picking this up," Masamune moved away from the embrace but Motochika graded his arm and pulled him back.

"It's been a while since you let me hold you like this," he whispered into the others man's hair. He didn't mean to sound sappy, but it was true. Since Mori moved in Masamune hadn't really been a fan of hugging and kissing, or any kind of display of affection for that matter. Chosokabe missed it, and he knew that Masamune felt the same even though he was the one keeping him at bay.

Masamune let him old him, melting into is arms. "I love you," he said in earnest.

"I wish you could be this sweet in front of my family," Motochika sighed running his hand through Masamune's hair, "But then again, I like that I'm the only one who can see this side of you."

The dragon snorted giving him a pointed look. "Stop stalling, we need to get back to cleaning this up."

Motochika watched him for a while. Something was bothering him he could tell, but he decided to let it go for right now. They could talk about it later.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kojuro came around noon bring Yukimura, who brought Sasuke, who dragged Kasuga and Fuma. Kasuga took to hanging around Matsu almost immediately; glad to see another girl at one of these gets together besides her. Sasuke and Fuma sat on the couch content as just watching until they could get a feel for the place.

Yukimura on the other hand, threw a punch at Masamune the moment he entered the room. Masamune didn't miss a beat and dodge the hit while sending back on of his own.

"Not in the house," Motochika reprimanded, shooing the two out of the house as if it was a normal occurrence.

"They do this often?" Keiji asked.

"Whenever they meet they always have a little battle." Chosokabe said, shaking his head as he watched the two sparing in the middle of the front lawn.

Kojuro was the last one out of the car, deciding to leave the bags in then car for the moment being.

"It's nice to see you again Kojuro." Motochika grinned, trying to show fear.

"I'm going to kill you later," Kojuro deadpanned, "I just thought you should know that."

"O-okay," Chosokabe stuttered out.

"Where is Masamune anyways?"

"The last I saw he was with Yukimura..."

"Kojuro!" a voice yelled from the other side of the room before Masamune jumped on the man, embracing him in a bear like hug. Apparently his battle with Yukimura was finished rather quickly. "I've missed you."

The man regarded him coolly; again, like this was an everyday occurrence, "You should come down and visit once in a while then. I haven't seen you in almost a year."

"Sorry, thing got really busy this year."

Kojuro nodded understandingly, "Still, you left me with only Yukimura and his friends for company."

"I'll come up soon. There are just a few things that I need to finish getting settled here before I do."

"I'll hold you to that. Just remember, there's always a place back home if you ever decide that you want to come back. Or if things end badly, I'll take care of the pirate."

"That won't be necessary," Masamune assured him, "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

After the introductions were made, Sasuke decided that they should do something since it was Christmas Eve. Naturally Yukimura and Kasuga agreed almost automatically. Masamune was going to suggest that they do something inside until Yukimura said something along the lines of being able to make a better snow/sand man.

Once the challenge was made, neither of them could back down. In the end they were all outside. Kojuro, Mastu and Toshi were talking on the porch while the others indulged in whatever it was they were doing.

"Are you going to join the contest?" Chosokabe asked Mori who was probably going to pout off to the side and then later complain about not being included, unless someone asked him.

"Why not, I am the only one here with their masters in engineering. It will be easy to beat all of you."

Keiji rolled his eyes, "This is sand, not building materials."

"Yes, but you can use the same kind of approach when..."

"Don't care," Masamune interrupted, "Put your money where your mouth is and just build instead of explaining your whole plan."

Kasuga and Sasuke thought it would be better to work together. Yukimura was pouring his soul into this project as usual. Chosokabe ended up working by himself after he asked Masamune if he wanted help, but the dragon declined, saying that because Yukimura challenged him, he must do it on his own. Keiji decided to be judge so he wouldn't have to work with the sand.

The end products were pretty amazing when you consider the fact that none of them had ever made a sand castle much higher than a foot and they had somehow managed to build a replica of a full size snow man.

"Mori, what happened to yours?" Yukimura asked in earnest. "It looks as if someone dumped water on it causing the poor thing to deteriorate."

"It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be," Mori admitted, causing Chosokabe to laugh, "You can't really talk, you didn't even make one."

"I did but it fell at the last second," Motochika pointed to a medium sized lump of sand.

"Sasuke, Kasuga, why is yours only the tree basic part? You didn't think to add any detail?" Keiji asked.

"You try doing this," they said in unison.

"I guess that just leaves Yukimura and Masamune's."

That was when Fuma came walking up from the other side of the beach.

"Hey Fuma, where did you go off to," Sasuke asked. He noticed that the other man had gone off a while ago, but he always found his way back so he didn't worry.

Fuma said nothing, but he did grabbed Sasuke's arm tugging him in the direction of where he just came from. Sasuke asked where they were going but Fuma said nothing, like always. The others followed as well.

A bit further away from where they had been working was a real life size statue of a person.

"Well I guess we can safely say that Fuma wins," Keiji said.

"That's not fair," Yukimura pouted, "He didn't say that he was competing therefore he's not a part of the contest."

"When does he ever say anything," Keiji argued.

"I'm kind of with Yukimura on this one," Kasuga piped in, "Everyone else gave some sort of signal. He just kind of walked away from all of us and assumed that we would know what it means"

"We do every other time," Sasuke pointed out.

"Only you know what he's trying to say," Yukimura reminded him.

Another tension amongst the group was the Fuma situation. Sasuke had pulled the other man in with them back in high school. No one is really sure what goes on between them, but there closeness left Yukimura and Kasuga feeling shafted. On top of that, Sasuke was the only one who ever seemed to understand him, thus they hardly ever parted from each-others side.

"Stop complaining," Masamune said, "Besides his victory saved you from losing to me yet again."

"We're tied and you know it," Yukimura jabbed his finger in the dragon's face, who grinned at him.

"Haven't seen you smile like that in a long time," Mori pointed out. "Have we Chosokabe?"

"No," the pirate said, catching on to what Mori was trying to say. It was true that Masamune was his happiest around Yukimura, and Kojuro had hinted once or twice that the dragon and the tiger used to date, and that they still had a thing for each other. Chosokabe wrote it off as a rivalry. He knew that Masamune wouldn't cheat on him. Though before this year, he did take frequent trips back to Oshu...

"Come on lets head back in," Masamune yawned. Being out in the sun this long had made him tired.

"We haven't been out here that long," Mori rolled his eyes.

"Mori, the sun is going down; we came out here at high noon."

"It is going to get dark soon," Keiji noted.

"And we still have a tree to decorate," Chosokabe reminded them.

"We have a tree?" Mori looked confused.

"Yeah, we decided to get decorations this year because we knew people were coming over. We thought it would be a fun thing to do together," Masamune shrugged, "Come on," He grasped Chosokabe's hand and pulled him along knowing the others would follow.

The tree decorating went about as smoothly as it could go. Matsu, Toshi, and Keiji were having a good time. Chosokabe was taking the time to talk with Kojuro about something or the other in a hushed tone. All Masamune knew was that Kojuro looked kind of angry, also understanding. He couldn't really tell. He was more focused on his competition with Yukimura. They were trying to see who could hang the most decorations in a minute. Kasuga, Sasuke, and Fuma were trying to figure out the easiest way to put the star on the top of the tree without having to use a ladder.

"What's for dinner," Mori eventually asked.

"Kojuro made cookies," Masamune said. "The tin is in the kitchen. I'll go get it," he hopped up and toed through everyone to make it to his destination. He brought out a rather large tin of chocolate chip cookies.

"Cookies aren't dinner," Mori said snidely.

"Come on," Chosokabe nudge him. "It's not like you don't eat a very unhealthy midnight snack...every night?"

"Master Katakura's cookies are the best." Yukimura beamed, making a dive for the tin.

"The guest gets them first," Masamune pushed Yukimura over handing the container to Keiji, "Here you go lady killer."

Motochika almost dropped the box of decorations he was holding. Nicknames from Masamune, no matter how derogatory, meant that you've grown on him.

"Why did we wait so long to decorate this tree anyways?" Mori asked annoyed, or he was trying to kill the good mood.

"Because it's a fun family activity," Masamune growled under his breath. He was on his last nerve with Mori. He had been pessimistic since...he moved in.

"I'm just saying..."

"Mori," Chosokabe said in a calm tone, but it was a warning, everyone in the room could tell. It left a tense atmosphere, yet again.

"Okay," Sasuke broke the silence, "Fuma found out how to get the star on the top of the tree without a step ladder."

"Really," Yukimura looked confused, but cookies were soon presented in front of him and everything else was forgotten.

"Show them!" Sasuke cheered.

Fuma took the star flipping it in the air and tapping in lightly while it hung there. True to their words it tipped and toddled in air before weightlessly landing on the top of the tree.

"He's a witch," Mori said simplify.

"Oh, are you a little sore because someone not only knows physics but can apply its theories better than you can," Keiji elbowed him playfully before adding, "It's alright we all know you earned your doctorates."

"Right," Mori moved away.

"Hey Ryuu-chan," Motochika called in a sing song voice.

"I told you not to call me that Chika-chan," Masamune retaliated in the same sing song voice, looking up to see what he partner wanted. "…mistletoe, really? If you want to kiss me you could just do it instead of finding some stupid plant."

"So can I kiss you now?"

"No, Kojuro is watching."

"I forgot about that," the pirates sweat dropped as they both looked back over to where the retainer was sitting. He wasn't happy.

"He's too far to hear us. Just pretend you were playing around and walk the other way," he gave him a playful push.

"Has anyone seen Sasuke and Fuma?" Yukimura asked worriedly, "They were here for the star thing and now they're gone."

"If those little...are doing what I think they are doing… in my house." Masamune was on his feet.

"Calm down," Sasuke said as he re-entered the room. "I was showing Fuma where the bathroom was."

"Oh...sorry," Masamune sits back down.

Things were starting to pick back up. Everyone started putting presents under the tree and waited. Oddly enough Kojuro and Motochika seemed to be back to having a peaceful conversation.

"He is happy with you. I'll give you that much," the gardener sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better all he does is talk about you. He just hasn't been able to make it out to see you as often as he likes."

"I know. If you screw this up…"

"I won't"

"All it takes is him calling me after an argument and I'll..."

"We hardly ever disagree."

"You're still in the puppy love phase," Kojuro said with true disgust, "Have fun when things get..."

"THE HELL MORI!" Msamune's voice cut through the room.

"I'm just saying. If your own mother didn't want you," Mori was very calm.

Masamune's face was tight. It was somewhere between angry and hurt. "Fuck you." he snarled storming out of the room.

"Mori?" Chosokabe looked confused, "Why would you..." he stopped there and went to go make sure Masamune was okay. His family was a very touchy subject that tended to bring a complete shut down when it's mentioned.

"Leave him," Kojuro said, "You have to give him a little while when it comes to these things."

"Mori what did you say to him?"

"What do you think? Don't act like you didn't hear the end of that conversation."

"We talked about this."

"You know we don't get along. It was only a matter of time."

Motochika ran his hand over his face, "Why," when Mori didn't answer he continued, "You know he was the one who wanted you to stay here, right?"

"What?" Mori looked slightly hurt.

"I thought it would be better to pay for you to have your own place to stay, because I thought it would make you feel better to not have to rely on someone else. He thought it would be better for you to be with a friend and have some form of support...and then you do this?"

"You didn't want me around?"

"That's not what I said and you know it. I get that you don't like him but to push it things too far."

Mori made an animalist growl type noise in his throat before grabbing his coat and leaving.

Yukimura was worried, "Should we go after him?"

"No, he'll be back. Oddly enough he walks out like this often enough. He has his phone with him, but all of his stuff is here. He'll be back. I'm going to go check on Masamune." He took off down the hall at a brisk pace before anyone could say anything.

"I never really like Mori," Keiji said.

"Keiji," Matsu chided

"I don't. He's a jerk but..."

"It's kind of obvious what's going on," Kasuga said, "There's no need to go into detail."

Fuma somehow managed to just get back from the bathroom.

"Hey Kotaro, you were right," Sasuke said, "Things were about to blow up."

If they could see his face then they would know that he rolled his eyes. Fuma wasn't one for drama and tended not to like being in a room when things that relate to the subject happened, hence the trip to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Chosokabe slid open the door to his and Masamune's shared room. He knew better than to say anything when he was in one of these moods. A blatant warning was they eye patch abandoned on the night stand. Approaching the wrong way would make him feel vulnerable.

He sat on his left side so they were in each other's line of sight.

"I was nice to that arrogant son of a bitch, and this is the shit he gives me."

Motochika wanted to smile. Masamune wasn't upset about what he thought he was.

"He didn't mean it. He's just being Mori."

"How do you put up with him?"

"We grew up together. Trust me he grows on you."

"Tsk, right. I should have let you put him up in some apartment or something."

"Really? I was right?"

"I didn't even mind that he was hitting on you, because I knew he wasn't competition but to talk about my family...I should have killed him."

"He didn't mean it. He was just mad and saying what he knew would make you..."

"I know that," he snapped. "If I stay out there with the others I'm going to say something I regret. Just give me a minute to calm down."

Motochika dropped a kiss on his forehead, "Fine, but be out soon it's almost midnight and we're all supposed to open a present." He was about to leave him to cool down when he stopped. "There's something that's been bugging me, and if I don't ask it now, it's going to bug me the rest of their visit."

"What is it?"

"It's you and Yukimura. Kojuro keeps hinting that you two had a thing, and you were going to Oshu a lot…"

"We went out once. It was like trying to date my brother. It didn't go further than that."

"Really?" Motochika looked relieved.

Masamune gave shook his head, "Trust me, you could ask Yukimura yourself and he would give you a similar answer."

"Then why…forget it. I'll see you when you come back out."

Masamune held on to his partners shoulder, "Say whatever it was you were going to say."

The pirate sat down again and was quiet for only a few seconds before blurting out, "Why can he make you smile like that, and I can't?"

Masamune laughed a little. That what was bothering him, "He's like a little brother. It's a different kind of smile because I see him more as a sibling," he smirked.

"You didn't need to laugh."

"It's cute when you're jealous," Masamune poked at him before adding, "Chika-chan."

"If you can say Chika-chan, I can say Ryuu-chan."

Masamune rolled his eyes, "Right, keep believing that."

Chosokabe let out a playful growl before pinning his dragon. He planted a small kiss on his lips, or planned to. Masamune held him there a little longer. He broke away giving him a lustful smile.

"I though you said not while my family was here?" Chosokabe gave him a knowing smirk.

"We can be quiet." Masamune decided.

"Deal."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"He'll be fine," Chosokabe assured the others when he came out. By now he was completely composed from what had just happened.

"That's good," Mori said.

"You're back," Chosokabe didn't seem to surprise to see him.

"I want to apologize to Masamune if it's not too late."

"I'm not sure how he'll take to it."

"It's almost midnight," Keiji said excitedly.

"There's still five minutes left Keiji," Matsu chided.

"I know but its stills exciting!" Keiji beamed. This was the first time they were open presents right on Christmas. It was a tradition that Masamune and Kojuro had and they wanted to continue it.

"Why can't we just open them all at once," Yukimura whimpered.

"Stop acting childish," Sasuke sighed.

Masamune came out two minutes before it was time, accepting Mori's apology dismissively. Other than that he seemed to be in a pretty good mood. There was a light silence in the room as they waited for last few minutes to tick by.

"It's killing me; can't we just open them now?" Kasuga snarled.

Sasuke shook his head, "There are only thirty seconds left."

The clock finally slipped to twelve and everyone was ready to pounce.

"Wait!" Chosokabe yelled. "I have an important gift to give, and I want to give it first."

"You better make this quick," Sasuke huffed, holding Yukimura by his ponytail so he wouldn't charge.

He pulled out a small box from the top of the pile and handed it to Masamune. He grinned at him encouraging him to open it. Masamune in turn, took his time. The pirate crept a bit closer using his presence to pressure the dragon into moving faster.

"I know what this is," Date said, "If you have to ask you're an idiot."

"Yeah, but if I were to drag you to town hall and just make you sign a marriage contract you would punch me in the face."

Masamune grinned giving him a quick kiss, "Let them open their present so Yukimura stops acting like a wild animal."

"You could at least see what it looks like first. I all but had to give a kidney to get that thing."

"You know I don't like diamonds."

"It's not a..." Chosokabe was ready to pull his hair out, "Open it."

"It's not gold right? I'm allergic to it."

"Open it,"

"_Alright_," he said in English tearing off the wrapping paper. It was silver band with a dragon engraved into it, "Nice."

"Can we..?" Yukimura begged pointing at the stack of boxes under the tree.

"Go ahead," Masamune waved them off as Motochika placed the ring on his finger.

"I also have something I would like to give to someone," Sasuke said pushing the tiger cub back down. He threw a small silver object in Fuma's direction. The other caught it without much effort.

"Keys?" Kotaro said. It might be the only words he ever uttered in their presence.

"Move in with me?" Sasuke shrugged.

"You guys are dating?" Yukimura asked.

"Just open your presents," Sasuke gave Yukimura a starting push.

"Wait he didn't answer," Yukimura argued.

"Yes he did. Just go."

Everyone else had already picked something and was starting to un-wrap them.

"Kojuro you have to open this one," Masamune gave him a sizable box.

"Is it another apron?" the retainer asked.

"You won't know if you don't look in the box."

"That's a yes," Kojuro sighed opening it, "Ah...I see."

"I had to make friends with the old lady who lives down the street from us in order to get these things, and she's fucking weird so you better like it."

"Language," Kojuro warned, "How many..."

"She raises a lot of fruits and vegetables. I mentioned that you liked to garden and begged her for a sample of all her seeds."

Kojuro smirked, "Thank you. I plant them once the gardening season starts."

"Remember how we first started this little tradition?" Masamune smiled. "The first day I ended up staying with you after my mom gave me up. I was crying so you took me to the toy store to pick something, and it just happened to be Christmas morning." He smiled at the memory. "I'm glad she gave me up. You raised me better than she ever would have."

"Masamune..."

"Seriously, you're like the father I never had," he hugged him, "Thank you."

The next morning they finished what they started around the tree. Masamune sat on the couch in his sleep kimono. Chosokabe was next to him as they watched everyone else. Motochika held him his fiancé close kissing the top of his head. The dragon was dozing against him while sipping a small cup of tea.

"I'll let Mori stay," Masamune said.

"You never said you were kicking him out," the pirate was legitimately surprised at what was being said.

"I thought about most of the night. It's obvious that he's mooching off of us. I found one of his pay stubs on the coffee table this morning. He's making more than enough to sustain himself for a while now. I don't know why he chooses to stay as long as he has, but eventually he'll get tired of sticking around when he realizes that nothing is going to happen between the two of us."

"I still don't see what you're saying. I don't think Mori has it in him to have emotions like that," Chosokabe mumbled.

Masamune just sighed, going back to watching everyone. Sasuke was currently talking with Fuma as he continued to struggle with the wrapping paper of his presents. Kasuga was with them as well. Keiji was gushing over the things Matsu and Toshi had gotten him, and vice versa. Kojuro was contending with Yukimura who seemed to want nothing more than the older man to open the present he'd gotten him. Mori seemed to be watching everyone contently. Once in a while he would glance over in Chosokabe's and Masamune's direction.

He had the most longing look on his face, leaving Masamune to wonder how dim Chosokabe could be when it suits him. Still, he didn't have it in his heart to just kick Mori out, no matter how much of a jerk he was. He would tough it out for as long as Mori felt he could do the same.

Right now he just wanted to enjoy the holiday. Kojuro was supposed be showing him how to make some tradition dish or the other. He hadn't said what it was, but supposedly the yield was enough to feed everyone here instead of going through the trouble of making a ham or turkey. Yukimura already challenged him to a duel that they planned to have sometime during lunch, and he promised to show Motochika's family around town now that all the shops were lit up with decorations.

It was going to be a good day, and not even Mori could ruin it.

**I know the ending sounds really rush, like the rest of my stories. This one I've been working on for a few months. It wasn't supposed to be a Christmas fic nor a multi chapter story, but it ended up that way after I looked over it and decided to separate some parts out. As for the Christmas thing...I don't know.**

**Sorry if I upset any Mori fans.**

**I hope you enjoyed this little story anyways**


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